Striking clock



July 16, 1957 P. SCHWAB 2,799,334

STRIKING CLOCK Filed April 15, 195s IEE: [i

Unite My invention has for its object an alarmclock adapted to strike selectively at various selected times, say at any quarter of an hour, during the twelve-hour movement of a time-piece.`

According to a primary object of my invention, there is. provided a small disc rotating freely on its` shaft and carrying a pin subjected to the. action of a finger rigidly secured to the shaft carrying the disc, said shaft being driven by the. striking mechanism so that when the striking mechanism has been operative for a predetermined time, the pin is brought into an operative position Vfor whichit stops the striking mechanism while a rocking control member subjected tothe action of` means releasing the striking mechanism at the desired moment cof operates with said pin to return it from its operative position into its inoperative position to allow the clock to strike.

l have shown by way of example in accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of my invention. In said drawings? Fig. l is an elevational diagrammatical view` of a small clock. l

Fig. 2 is a view` of the underside of the dial forming part, of said clock. f

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through line lil-'lll of Fig. 2 ona larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View through linelV-IV of Fig. l also on allarger scale.

Fig. 5 is'a plan view of a partv of the striking Y"mechanism and locking means associated therewith.

' Fig. 6 shows in detail the vpin-carrying disc forming part of the arrangement shown in Fig. 5, the pin and l nger thereon being however in another position. y

Fig. 7 is a sectional view through line VIl-VII` of Fig. 5.

Fig-.8 is a sectional view along lineVIlI-VIII of Fig. 5 on a larger scale. t

Fig. 9y is a sectional view through line- IX-IX of Fig. 8. j v

The small clock shown in the drawings, which is to strike selectively at vany quarter of an hour throughout the revolution of its smalll hand, comprises adial 1 fitted in a rotary bezel 2.9 the periphery of which is milled at 29a so as to allow an easy angular shifting of the bezel.

AThis rotation of the bezel serves for defining at-whi'ch moment, say at which quarter of an hour the clockfis to strike. To this end, two cylindrical push members 30 and 31' arey carried by said bezel in a manner such that they may be shifted between a projecting inoperative position anda collapsed operative position. Thesefpush members are brought through the rotation of the bezel into registry with any desired tongueout of the series of elementary radial tongues 4a projecting from the arms 4b formed; at the peripheryof a` small circularfplate 4- secured by rivets 5 tothe'underside of thecentral sectionl of the dial. These tongues the*number` of which is 48` so as to correspond withl the number of quarters of an hour-ina period of twelve hours form thus kthe-ends of the said ff*- Patent member 30 registering with said reference line.

Patented July 1e, 1957 2 resilient arms 4b radially rigid with said small circular plate; it is readily apparent therefore that the rotation of the bezel may bring the push members 30 and 31 into registry with any desired tongue 4a to provide as will be disclosed hereinafter for the desired striking at the time corresponding to said tongue.' These tongues are adapted to, engage to a varying extent corresponding radial slits 6 provided along the periphery of the dial 1 and to project therethrough. The depression of the push member 30 urges the tongue 4a lying underneath it at the moment considered through the slot 6 in the dial 1 as fully apparent from inspection of Fig. 3 so as to .occupy an operative position at a small distance underneath the dial 1 as illustrated in dot and dash lines for the left hand tongue 4a shown in Fig. 4. Thus, it is possible through operation of thepush member to depress selectively any one of the forty-eight tongues into register with which `the push member 30 may be brought. The release of the depressed tongue 4a. is obtained through depression ofthe adjacentV push member 31: as shown in Fig. l, sucha depression causes an auxiliary spring-urged lever to rock round a horizontal axis 33 (Fig. 4) so as to return the depressed tongue 4a into its original inoperative position shown in solid lines, the iirst mentioned push member 30 being obviously released through depression of the second push member 31.

The rotary bezel carries an index line 32 registering with the location of the push member 30 so as to allow an easy and accurate positioning of the latter in vertical register with the tongue 4a which it is desired to urge down into its operative position after a suitable angular shifting of the bezel. It will be remarked that the reference line 3.2 serves also for the push member 31 which acts on the same tongue as that lying underneath the push It also will be .remarked that the dial slots 6 through which the tipsof the tongues 4a. project are partly visible under the part of the dialv 1 lying immediately inside the rotary bezel.'v The arms 4b are angularly shifted to a slight extent with reference to the longitudinal axis of the corresponding slit 6k as provided. through a suitable positioningk of the plate 4 on, the dial 1 when riveted thereto;

this angular shifting ofthe arms 4b, leads to a slight deformation thereof when the tongues 4a at the free ends thereof engages the corresponding slits 6 and this leads to a slight friction between each tongue 4a and one side of the corresponding slit so as to ensure a more secure holding of the arms 4b in position since the tongues 4a even when depressed still engage to a slight extent the said slits 6.

The striking mechanism is controlled by a rigid arm 7 (Fig. 5 rotating in unison with the hour-wheel 8 (Fig. 8); tothe, rigid arm 'i is secured by a screw 9"(Fig. 7) a resilient feeler 10 extending underneath said arm 7 along the same diameter of the hour wheel as the latter. The outer end -of the feeler 10 facing awayfrcrn the arm 7 forms a hook 10a adaptedto cooperate with any arm 4b which has been depressed into its 'operative position rby depression of the push member 30. y The feeler 10 is therewith meets an'arm 4b' urged downwardly into `its operative position since such a depressed arm bffor'ms "an'abutment over the lower surface of which the hook 10a is constrained to ride under` the action of the continuousfrotation of thev rotary unit includingfthel hourwheel and the parts 7 and 10. As shown in; Figs. 5 and 7, the totali lengths-of the arm 7 and'member 10inc1uding l s Y 3 g the hook a is such that the radial distance between the aries of the hour-wheel and the hook is slightly less than the radius of the clock dial so that the hook 10a lies on the inside of the bezel 29 and does not interfere with the rotation of said bezel nor with the operation of the push members 30 and 31. When the sleeve 11 is urged downwardly as described, it acts on the rrocking control member 12 (Figs. S, 7 and 8) which forms a unit with an elastic blade 12a which latter is secured to the case or frame of the time-piece by means of a screw 13 extending through the outer end-of said blade 12a which is bent at right angles as shown at 12b (see Figs. 5 and 7). The actual rocking member 12 rigid with the blades 12a .includes a section adjacent the axis of the hour wheel 8 and shaped in cross-sectional view as a U therupper arm of which is apertured transversely at 17 for the passage of the hour Wheel spindle while its lower arm 12C extends, whenthe rocking control member 12 is in its upper inoperative position, at a small distance above the upper surface of the star wheel 14 rigid with the minute spindle l15 (Fig. 9). When the rocking controll member 12 is depressed through the downward movement of the sleeve 11, the lower arm 12C thereof is brought into engagement with the star wheel 14 and more accurately speaking into the path of the arms of said wheel 14 rotating with the minute spindle; thus, said wheel 14 will urge the rocking member 12 into movement in the direction of the arrow 16 (Fig. 5) i. e. away from the hour and minute spindles and it is this shifting of the rocking control member which releases the striking mechanism as will be disclosed hereinafter. The rocking control member 12 is provided as mentioned with an elongated transverse opening 17 (Fig. 5) through which the tubular .hour spindle 8 carrying the hour-wheel 8' passes so as Yto allow said rocking control member 12 to move transversely of said spindle.

On the other hand, the hammer 18 of the striking mechanism (Fig. 5) is driven by a conventional escapement through a wheel 40 acting on the arm 42 rigid with the hammer carrying-rod 41 under the control of the clock-work spring housed inside the barrel 19. The hammer 18 carries a pin 20 adapted to cooperate with the free end of the locking lever 21 the other end of which is secured through a resilient member 21a to the vcase jor frame by a screw 22 (Fig. 5).

The resiliency of said member 21a is such thatthe lever 21 is urged into its inoperative position disengagng the pin from the hammer 18 as shown in Fig. 6. In such a normal inoperative position of the lever 21, the hammer 18 is free and is allowed to strike under the action of the striking mechanism. The spindle of the barrel 19 which revolves when the striking mechanism is operative is rigid with a wheel which is not illustrated and which meshes with a pinion 23 on the shaft 24 to which shaft a radial finger 25 is rigidly secured (Figs. 5, 6). This radial finger or projection 25 is adapted toco- Voperate with a pin 26 on a small disc 27 revolving freely round the shaft 24. When the striking mechanismis operative, the finger 25 rotates in the direction of the arrow 28 (Fig. 6) until it meets the pin 26 and drives the latter into rotation so that said pin 26 finally meets the lever 21. At this moment which corresponds to the position illustrated in Fig. 5, the lever 21 is urged away from the shaft 24 so that the end of said lever 21 engages the pin 20 on the hammer 18 and prevents operation of the latter and consequently that of the escapement -and of the striking mechanism. Thus, the striking mechanism is stopped together with the pinion 23 and the finger 25 since the pinion 23 is driven by the spindle 19 of the spring barrel 19, which spindle rotates only when the striking mechanism is operative or else for winding purposes. Thus, the pin 26 remains stationary in the posi- ,tion illustrated in Fig. 5 with the lever 21 in its operative hammer locking position. Y

The striking mechanism thus described Avis Yreleased only at the prescribed time defined by the angular location of the bezel 29 and the depression of the push member 30. As already disclosed, said depression causes the rocking control member 12 to be shifted away from the hour spindle in the direction of the arrow 16 upon engagement at the prescribed time of the hook 10a with the depressed tongue 4a; consequently the outer edge 12d of the rocking control member 12 engages, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the pin 26 held fast up to this moment through engagement with the 4lever 21, so as to shift said pin 26 towards the right hand side of Fig. 5, thereby disengaging the lever 21. The latter returns consequently under the action of the elasticity of the member 21a into its inoperative position illustrated in Fig. 6 so that the striking mechanism is now actually operative. Said operation of the striking mechanism stops as soon as the finger 25 controlled by the actual operation of the striking mechanism has again engaged the pin 26, which is now stationary, and has returned the latter into engagement with the lever 21 to return it into its operative hammer-locking position. The striking mechanism is released again for operation upon impact of the hook 10a on that tongue 4a which may be depressed at such a time so as to urge as precedingly disclosed the rocking member 12 into the position for which it again releases the lever 21 and the hammer 18.

In brief, the operation of my improved `arrangement may be summarized as follows: the reference line of the bezel 29 is brought into registry with any desired tongue 4a corresponding to the time at which the clock is to strike and the push member is caused to depress said tongue. When this time is reached, the hook 10a rotating in unison with the hour hand impinges on the depressed tongue 4a as readily apparent from inspection of Fig. 7 in which the lowered positions of the hook 10a and of the cooperating tongue are shown in dotted lines.

The hook as it sinks produces a downward movement of the sleeve 11 and therethrough a depression followed by an angular shifting of the member 12 by -an arm or projection of the star wheel 14; the shifting of the member 12 thus produced in the direction of the arrow 16 releases the hammer-locking lever 21 and allows the striking mechanism to operate. The locking of said hammer is obtained after each operation of the striking mechanism through the rotation of the finger or projection 25 under the laction of said striking mechanism which rotation makes said finger reach the pin 26 revolving freely round the axis carrying the projection 25, said finger 25 bringing thus the pin y26 which it has engaged into engagement with the hammer-locking lever to urge the latter back into 'its operative position to prevent further operation of the striking mechanism until the hour hand has moved into a position corresponding to a further predetermined striking position defined by the depression of the push member 30 carried by the angularly shiftable bezel.

What I claim is:

1. In a time-piece including a clockwise incorporating an hour wheel, a striking mechanism and a dial with a time scale, the combination of a striking hammer controlled by the striking mechanism, a locking lever adapted ,to lock said hammer in its inoperative position and to be lshifted away from its hammer-locking position, 'a transversely shiftable control member adapted to assume normally an inoperative position land means registering se- Vlectively with one of Aa plurality of subdivisions of the `dial scale, adapted upon operation to shaft the control member intoyan operative position when the hour Wheel reaches the angular position corresponding to the time set by registering of last mentioned means with a selected subdivision, -a revoluble member controlled bythe striking mechanism, a stop freely revoluble round the same axis as saidv last mentionedtrnembe'r and adapted to be brought Iby the latter when 'revolving into an operative position inwhich it urgesthe first mentioned lever into its opera- .tive hammer-locking position and means. wherethrough the shiftable control member when operative engages the freely revoluble stop and pushes it away from -its lever engaging position to release said lever and provide for operation of the striking mechanism.y

2. In a time-piece including a clockwork incorporating an hour wheel, a striking mechanism` and a dial with a time scale, the combination of a striking hammer controlled by the striking mechanism, a locking lever adapted to lock said hammer in its inoperative position and to be shifted `away from its hammerelocking' position, an annular bezel adapted to be angularly shifted round the dial, and carrying a reference line adapted to register with any predetermined point of the time scale on the dial, a plurality of tongues secured to and extending radially underneath the dial and the outer ends of Which register with the underside of the bezel, means `carried by the bezel `at a predetermined distance from the reference line and adapted to depress the tongue underlying same into an operative position, a member revolving with the hour Wheel and axially shiftable with reference to the latter under the action of any depressed tongue when registering therewith, a control member adapted to be transversely shifted out of an inoperative position into an operative position through the axial shifting of the member revolving with the hour' wheel, a revoluble member controlled by the striking mechanism, a stop freely revoluble round the same axis as said last mentioned member 'and adapted to be brought by the latter when revolving into an operative position in which it urges the 'rst mentioned lever into its operative hammer-locking position and means wherethrough the shiftable control member when operative engages the freely revoluble stop and pushes it `away from its lever engaging position to release said lever and provide for operation of the striking mechanism.

3. In a time-piece including a dial provided with an annular time-scale, a clockwork including an hour-wheel and a minute wheel and a striking mechanism, the combination of a locking lever adapted to hold said striking mechanism in its inoperative position and to be shifted away from its operative locking position, a control member adapted to be transversely shifted transversely away from the hour wheel axis out of an inoperative position into an operative position and to be yieldingly returned into its normal inoperative position, hand operable means selectively movable into a predetermined position with reference to the timescale, a plurality of parts correspending to various points of the time-scale and selectively controllable by the hand operable means, a member revolving in unison with and slidingly carried coaxially by the hour wheel and adapted at a time corresponding to that for which one of said parts has been depressed to impinge against the latter and to be shifted axially thereby, said axial shifting of said last mentioned member urging the control member into a predetermined transverse plane, means rigid with the minute wheel extending in said predetermined plane and including radial arms adapted to rock the control member when urged into said plane into its operative position, a freely revoluble disc, a pin eccentrically carried thereby, a radial projection controlled by the striking mechanism to revolve round the axis of said disc and to drive along with it said pin into engagement with the hammer-locking lever to urge the latter into its operative position, said pin being engageable by the control member when shifted into its operative position to be urged thereby into its lever-releasing position.

4. In a time-piece including a dial provided with an annular time-scale, a clockwork including an hour-wheel and a minute wheel and a striking mechanism, the combination of a locking lever adapted to hold said striking` mechanism in its inoperative position and to be shifted away from its operative locking position, a control member adapted to be shifted transversely away from the hour wheel axis out of an inoperative position into an operative position and to be yieldingly returned into its normal inoperative position, a disc concentrically secured to the underside of the dial, elastic radial tongues rigid with said disc and extending underneath the dial into register with the outer section of the latter, arevoluble bezel revolubly fitted round the dial, means carried by the revoluble bezel and adapted to depress the tongue underlying said means for a predetermined position given to the bezel, a member revolving in unison with and slidingly carried coaxially by the hour wheel and adapted at a time corresponding to that for which one of said tongues has been depressed to impinge against the latter and to be shifted axially thereby, said axial shifting of said last mentioned member urging the control member into a predetermined transverse plane, means rigid with the minute wheel extending in said predetermined plane and including radial arms adapted to rock the control member when urged into said plane into its operative position, a freely revoluble disc, a pin eccentrically carried thereby, a radial projection controlledr by the striking mechanism to revolve round the axis of said disc and to drive along with it said pin into engagement with the hammer-locking lever to urge the latter into its operative position, said pin being engageable by the control member when shifted into its operative position to be urged thereby into its lever-releasing position.

5. In a time-piece including a dial provided with an annular time-scale, and with radial peripheral slits corresponding to predetermined subdivisions of time, a clockwork including an hourewheel and a minute wheel and a striking mechanism, the combination of a locking lever adapted to hold said striking mechanism in its inoperative position and to be shifted away from its operative locking position, a control member adapted to be shifted transversely away from the hour wheel axis out of an inoperative position into an operative position and to be yieldingly returned into its normal inoperative position, a disc concentrically secured to the underside of the dial, elastic radial tongues rigid with said disc and extending underneath the dial into register with the outer section of the latter, a revoluble bezel revolubly tted round the dial and provided with a reference line to be brought into register selectively with a predetermined slit in the dial, a push member carried by the revoluble bezel adjacent the reference line and adapted upon depression to depress the tip of the radial tongue registering with said reference line, means for returning the push member back into its inoperative position and to release the depressed tongue therethrough, a member revolving in unison with and slidingly carried coaxially by the hour wheel and adapted at a time corresponding to that for which one of said tongues has been depressed to impinge against the latter and to be shifted axially thereby, said axial shifting of said last mentioned member urging the control member into a transverse predetermined plane, means rigid with the minute wheel extending in said predetermined plane and including radial arms adapted to rock the control member when urged into said plane into its operative position, a freely revoluble disc, a pin eccentrically carried thereby, a radial projection controlled by the striking mechanism to revolve round the axis of said disc and to drive along with it said pin into engagement with the hammer-locking lever to urge the latter into its operative position, said pin being engageable by the control member when shifted into its operative position to be urged thereby into its lever-releasing position.

6. In a time-piece including a dial provided with an annular time-scale, a clockwork including an hour-Wheel and a minute wheel and a striking mechanism, the combination of a locking lever adapted to hold said striking mechanism in its inoperative position and to be shifted away from its operative locking position, a control member adapted to slide axially of the hour wheel and to be shifted transversely with reference to the latter and including a U-shaped section the free arm of which extends normally at a predetermined level and a terminal projection extending into registry with the said lever, a spring urging the control member transversely back into its inoperative position nearer the hour wheel axis, hand operable means selectively movable into a predetermined position with reference to the time-scale, a plurality of parts corresponding to various points of the timescale and selectively controllable by the hand operable means, a member revolving in unison with and slidingly carried coaxially by the hour wheel and adapted at a time corresponding to that for which one of said parts has been depressed to impinge against the latter and to be shifted axially thereby, said axial shifting of said last mentioned member urging the free end of the U-shaped section of the control member into a predetermined plane, means rigid with the minute wheel extending in said predetermined plane and including radial arms adapted to rock the free end of the U-shaped section of the control member when urged into said plane into its operative position, a freely revoluble disc, a pin eccentrically carried thereby, a radial projection controlled by the striking mechanism to revolve round the axis of said disc and to drive along with it said pin into engagement with the hammer-locking lever to urge the latter into its operative position, said pin being engageable by the control member when shifted into its operative position to be urged thereby into its lever-releasing position.

7. In a time-piece including a clockwork, a striking mechanism, and a hammer controlled by said mechanism,

plane between a hammer-locking and a hammer-releasing position, a member adapted to rotate freely round an axis perpendicular to the plane of motion of the lever, a stop rigid with said rotary member and adapted to move during rotation with the latter through a point at which it engages the lever and locks it in its' hammer-locking position, a projection controlled'by the striking mechanism when operative and adapted to revolve round the axis of said rotary member and to drive along with it said stop to make the latter enter the position for which it urges the lever into its hammer-locking position, means for setting the striking mechanism for operation at a predetermined time, a control member actuated by said setting means at said predetermined time and adapted upon actuation to urge said stop away from its lever-engaging position by shifting it in the direction of its preceding motion and thereby release the lever, and means elastically urging the control lever into its hammer-releasing position.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 915,605 Johnson Mar. 16, 1909 1,264,467 Willits Apr. 30, 1918 1,620,455 Gains Mar. 8, 1927 2,439,477 Le Roux Apr. 13, 1948 'Y FOREIGN PATENTS 262,328 Switzerland Oct. l, 1949 644,320 Great Britain Oct. 11, 1950 

